Intravenous immune globulin: METHODS(1)

27Oct 2012

A retrospective analysis was completed using from data collected from 10 Canadian hospital blood bank databases on the various indications for which IVIG was prescribed in a three-year period (1997 to 1999) in adult hospitals (eight institutions) and a two-year period (1997 to 1998) in pediatric hospitals (two institutions). Data collection was coordinated by a third party agency. The adult institutions also retrieved data for the following: number of patients who were treated for each indication on an annual basis, total amount of IVIG (grams) used on an annual basis by indication and the type and/or frequency of medical specialty of the prescribers of IVIG. The pediatric institutions retrieved the same information with the exception that the medical specialty of the IVIG prescriber was not available. buy levaquin online

One limitation of the data recovery was that the indication of IVIG use and medical specialty of prescriber information were not always available. Data that could not be assigned to an indication or type of medical specialty of the prescriber were grouped into a category designated as unknown. Only one adult institution validated the blood bank data against actual chart audits and therefore IVIG use was almost entirely accounted for in terms of indication used and type of prescriber when assessed under such rigors.